考研英语阅读理解中的文章，很多来自一些外刊杂志方面的题材。接下来，北京文都考研网为扩宽2020考研学子的知识面，整理了考研英语经济学人外刊:英国谋杀之谜，供考生参考。
2020考研英语经济学人外刊:英国谋杀之谜
Fatal stabbings are at record levels in Britain. Why?
英国致命性刺杀案件发生率创历史新高。原因何在?
Cuts to police numbers are only one part of a complex picture
警察人数的削减只是导致这个复杂局面的原因之一
Yousef Makki and Jodie Chesney, two 17-year-olds, were stabbed to death within 24 hours of each other on March 1st and 2nd. Mr Makki was killed near Manchester and Ms Chesney in east London.
3月1日和3月2日，17岁的尤瑟夫·马基和朱迪·切斯尼在24小时内相继被人刺杀身亡。马基和切斯尼分别是在曼彻斯特附近和伦敦东部地区遇害的。
The victims—one a successful pupil at a private school and the other an Explorer Scout—have received more coverage than most of this year’s other teenage casualties. But they reflect a broader trend: knife crime is on the rise.
这两位受害者中的一位是一所私立学校的优等生，另一位则是一名童子侦查兵，相比于今年其他的青少年伤亡者，他们两人受到了媒体更广泛的报道。这也反映了一个更广泛的趋势：持刀犯罪正在上升。
In the year to March 2018, 285 people were stabbed to death in England and Wales, the highest number since records began in 1946.
在截至2018年3月的一年里，英格兰和威尔士共有285人被刺杀身亡，创下了自1946年开始记录以来的最高人数。
The number of people aged 18 and under being treated for stab wounds has risen by two-thirds in the past five years, bringing the total close to a peak reached about a decade ago.
过去5年间，18岁及18岁以下因刺伤而接受治疗的人数增加了三分之二，总人数接近十年前所达到的高峰值了。
What is behind the outbreak? Many police officers blame deep cuts to their funding made by the Conservative-led government from 2010. The number of officers has since fallen by 15%.
刺杀事件爆发背后的原因是什么?许多警察指责保守党领导的政府从2010年开始大幅削减他们的经费。从那之后，警察的人数下降了15%。
Theresa May, who as home secretary in 2010-16 oversaw these cuts, insists that there is “no direct correlation between certain crimes and police numbers”.
2010年至2016年，英国时任内政大臣特蕾莎·梅负责监督经费的削减，她坚称“某些犯罪与警察人数并没有直接的关联”。
This is not a popular view. Sajid Javid, the current home secretary, says that “we have to listen to [police] when they talk about resources”.
这不是一个被广泛认可的观点。英国现任内政大臣萨吉德·贾维德表示，“当警察们在谈论资源时，我们必须听取他们的意见”。
Cressida Dick, the country’s top cop, argues that there “must be something” to the fact that violent crime has risen just as budgets for the police and other public services have shrunk.
英国最高警官克雷西达·迪克认为，在警察和其他公共服务预算缩减的同时，暴力犯罪却在上升，这中间“一定有什么关联”。
One of her predecessors, Lord Stevens, is blunter: “I don’t think [Mrs May] listens, quite frankly, to what she’s being told.”
前任最高警官之一的洛德·史蒂文斯直言道：“坦率来讲，我认为特蕾莎·梅没有听取别人的意见。”
The prime minister may have overstated the police’s invulnerability to cuts. But her opponents probably overstate the impact. There is so far no sign that those police forces suffering greater reductions in manpower have seen greater rises in knife crime (see chart).
首相可能高估了警察刀枪不入的能力，因而削减了经费。但她的对手可能夸大了削减经费所造成的影响。到目前为止，还没有迹象可以表明警察人数的减少导致了持刀犯罪的大幅上升。
And although attention has focused on big urban areas, the country’s largest cities have in fact seen smaller rises in knife crime than most other places.
尽管人们的注意力主要集中在大城市，但实际上，英国最大的几个城市的持刀犯罪率比其他大多数地区上升的更缓慢。
There is no simple explanation for why stabbings are rising at a time when overall crime is flat. Funding cuts—not just to the police but to the services that keep young people on the straight and narrow—probably have more to do with it than Mrs May admits.
在犯罪率总体持平的情况下，刺杀案件的发生却在增加，这肯定不是一个简单的原因所能解释的。削减经费(不只是对警察，还对那些能引导青少年走向正道的公共服务)可能产生了比特蕾莎·梅所料想的更大的影响。
A steep drop in the number of stop-and-searches, another change which began during Mrs May’s time in the Home Office, may have made it easier to carry a knife.
截停搜身次数的大幅下降(这是特蕾莎·梅任内政部长期间的另一个变化)可能使随身携带刀具变得更容易。(注：截停搜身是指，英国警察有权对疑似携带危险物品的人进行拦截和搜查。)
And changes in the drug market, in which big city gangs have branched out to challenge dealers in provincial towns, have sparked turf wars on previously quiet patches.
此外，毒品市场也有所变化，大城市的犯罪团伙已经扩大了势力范围，向周围省级城镇的毒贩发起了挑战，从而在此前较为平静的地区引发了地盘争夺战。
The overall homicide rate, at 1.24 per 100,000 people, remains well below its recent peak of more than 1.5 in the early 2000s, and is trifling by international standards. But the public are becoming worried. Mrs May should be, too.
英国总体的凶杀案发生率为每10万人1.24起，远远低于本世纪初最高峰时的每10万人1.5起，并且如果以国际标准来衡量就更显得微不足道了。但公众开始担心了。特蕾莎·梅也该担心了。
[重难点词汇]
casualty ['kæʒuəlti] n. 意外事故;伤亡人员;急诊室
invulnerability [ɪn,vʌlnərə'bɪləti] n. 刀枪不入，不会受伤害
manpower ['mænpaʊɚ] n. 人力;人力资源;劳动力
homicide ['hɑmɪsaɪd] n. 过失杀人;杀人犯
以上是北京文都考研网给出的“2020考研英语经济学人外刊:英国谋杀之谜”，希望对备考2020考研英语的考生有所帮助!祝2020考研顺利!
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